There is a force of nature that overcomes people to prevent them from being entirely morally just or morally unjust. It is often seen when there are secrets that are hidden or if one’s motives behind actions are questionable. Although this applies to the real world, it is also frequently recognized in novels. Throughout Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca, it is evident through two characters, Edward Rochester and Maxim de Winter, that a person can be morally ambiguous. In Jane Eyre, Edward Rochester is known to contradict his actions. His motives are questionable in almost every aspect. He and Maxim de Winter are depicted as moody, mysterious, and troubled. Both characters in the novels are secretive and have an unsolved …show more content…
Maxim de Winter, like Edward Rochester, can be regarded as cryptic. Both characters keep secrets from their supposed lovers and do some doubtful things but, they have reasons behind those actions whether they are justified or not. In the novel Rebecca, Maxim de Winter’s late wife was mysteriously lost at sea, yet one year later, the town is struck with news that the woman Maxim identified last year was not Rebecca. He has no choice left but to admit to murdering Rebecca to the narrator. In no way is this action moral whatsoever, however, Maxim cannot be believed to be one hundred percent wicked. Carola Campbell and Gabrielle Mander summarize Rebecca with a compelling point how “she was cruel and manipulative, and soon after their wedding she began having numerous affairs. Fearful of scandal, Maxim agreed to her offer: she would outwardly appear as the perfect wife if he allowed her to live privately as she pleased.” (Campbell and Mander). Maxim was trapped and found the only way to escape was by killing her. Despite all the superior talk about Rebecca, Maxim contrasts them and reveals Rebecca’s true horrid behavior. She tortured him and he remarks how Rebecca was like a man who, “starts drinking. He goes easy at first, just a little at a time, a bad bout perhaps every five months or so. And then the period between grows less and less.” (Du Maurier 279). He lived with her for years before she started threatening him and until he finally snapped, grabbed a gun, and shot her. Devastating as it is for a human being to do this to another, he was able to free himself from being tormented. Maxim's moral ambiguity has a remarkable effect on the novel as a whole. His cold personality was the root for their marriage struggles. Maxim divulging the truth about her, the new Mrs. de Winter had finally cleared up all the lies and deceit about their marriage. Although it isn't glorious, Maxim
Throughout the novel, the audience can see the emotional scarring Rebecca has caused on an innocent man named Ben, a worker in Manderly who had apparent mental issues. Rebecca used his vulnerability as a tool to bully him. There are various examples of her quality throughout the book, including when she threatened to send him to a mental asylum. It is clear to the reader that Ben has witnessed Rebecca's various affairs, and as a result, Rebecca would threaten him by saying she would send him to the mental asylum. This can be seen when Mrs. De Winter spoke to Ben, and he asked, "You're kind, not like the other one, you won't put me in the asylum, will you?
I would agree that Charlotte Bronte uses episodes of human suffering to make a social comment in her novel "Jane Eyre". Bronte employs literary techniques such as symbolism, imagery, and characterization to convey the characters' suffering and bring attention to social issues prevalent during the Victorian era. Through close reference to specific episodes in the novel, it becomes clear that Bronte uses the experiences of her characters to comment on the treatment of children, the limited opportunities for women, and the poor conditions of charity schools. One example of this can be seen in the red room episode, where Jane is locked up as a punishment for her supposed insolence. The use of imagery and symbolism in describing the red room as a "prison" and "tomb" highlights the isolation and fear that Jane experiences as a result of her punishment.
She was vicious, damnable, rotten through and through. We never loved each other, never had one moment of happiness together. Rebecca was incapable of love, of tenderness, of decency. She was not even normal (R., P.298). This quote suggests that Rebecca was not a human, she was “damnable” and wicked.
This made me change moods very fast from nice and relaxed to very unsettled because Initially, Du Maurier surprises us and builds tension by combining comfort with discomfort. Maxim feels at home while the narrator does not. Even worse, she is aware that she feels nervous because Maxim is her only ally in the situation. Is it possible that he could care less? The household tranquility that would typically suggest itself to someone viewing this setting is dispelled by a glimpse inside our lonely narrator's thoughts, and we, trapped there, feel alone as
Rebecca is a romantic gothic novel that seems to be about 2 unlikely lovers molding their love in the city of London, but twists into a mysterious murder story. Although each character seems innocent in the beginning, it is revealed that each has a backstory that leads to the horror exhibited in the novel. Each of the main characters is struggling with psychological issues, which motivates the events in the book. Maxim struggles with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of his marriage with Rebecca. When reminded of Rebecca or the events of his death, he exhibits classic signs of PTSD.
In Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca, Mrs. Danvers, the gothic housekeeper of Manderley, makes the life of the new Mrs. de Winter a living hell due to her obsessive loyalty to the original Mrs. de Winter, Rebecca. When she sees the narrator in a fragile mental state, she uses it to her advantage to push her over the edge by telling her that, “none of us want you… It’s you that ought to be lying there in the church crypt, not her. It 's you who ought to be dead, not Mrs. de Winter”, sending the narrator into a temporary lapse in judgement (Du Maurier 246). The anger that Mrs. Danvers feels against the narrator is due to her undying loyalty to Rebecca, which is slightly irrational because the narrator had no part in the death of Rebecca.
Her mother was crippled, spoke no English, and was not loved by her husband. Ruth was sexually abused by her father and began to look for a better life filled with friends, a home, and love. The day after high school graduation she fled Virginia to New York to live with her grandmother and aunts. She got a
It's you that ought to be lying there in the church crypt, not her. It's you who ought to be dead, not Mrs. de Winter.” Concluding that Daphne du Maurier explores the issue of jealousy through Maxim de Winter of Rebecca’s many lovers, The narrator (The Second Mrs. de Winter) living up to this dominate women figure from Maxims past- Rebecca, and Mrs. Danvers jealous of Maxim and the narrators new love. Daphne du Maurier shows jealousy and its destructive power through the ghost of Rebecca, which soon threatens Maxim and the narrator and blinds the narrator throughout the novel of Mrs Danvers’s manipulative personality to get rid of anyone who threatens Rebecca’s reputation at
She begins to doubt her role as Maxim's wife later on in the novel. Was she wed to him because of their love for one another? Or did he wish to avoid being alone, which is why she was there? She possesses a loss of
Oftentimes, minor characters help to reveal a theme or contribute to the characterization of the protagonist. In the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, Helen Burns serves as a foil character to the protagonist, Jane Eyre. Throughout the novel, Helen’s docile and pious nature helps to emphasize Jane’s development from a passionate girl to a modest woman. Helen’s theological beliefs also allow her to serve as a foil character to Mr. Brocklehurst, the headmaster of Lowood Institution, and St John Rivers, a zealous missionary, in order to reveal how Christianity is used to control Jane. Compared to the male characters in the novel, Helen’s positive use of religion proves to be more effective in encouraging Jane to adopt Christian values.
One of the biggest character foils in Jane Eyre is between Mr. Edward Rochester and St. John Rivers. From the first time we meet these characters, it is easy to tell the two apart. While one is ruled by a religious forces the other is controlled by emotions. Jane has to make a choice, and decide how she is going to live the rest of her life. At the end of the novel, she makes a choice between what is expected of her, and what she wants.
In the novel Rebecca that was written by Daphne du Maurier, Manderley is a constant reminder that Rebecca's death still overshadows the property because she does not want to be replaced or forgotten. Manderley adds a great mystery to this novel because it has a large effect on many of the characters. Certain characters feel as if Rebecca is still in control and that her spirit still watches over Manderley. After the new Mrs. deWinter arrives at Manderley, it seems as though Rebecca still lives in the house because no one disposes any of her items. It is very hard for those living at Manderley to eliminate Rebecca from their lives because they all adored her.
Deception can prove to be a powerful tool—both in the real world and in literature. While it is typically viewed as malicious, some forms of deception can prove to be beneficial in the long run. This kind of deceit is very prevalent in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. Mr. Rochester, specifically, spends a large portion of the story deceiving many characters, but most of his lies are directed towards Jane. At first, the façade he puts on seems questionable, but his motives behind his actions show that he had good intentions.
Throughout the book, our narrator has a mental battle with Rebecca as she is over-jealous of her to the point where she is borderline obsessed with her. In her gothic novel Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier depicts the narrator's battle with the ghostly presence of her husband's ex-wife using the motifs of age/youth, conversations,
There she struggles with navigating her new life at Manderley while trying to find her place in this new home. Maxim's marriage with the narrator is not healthy or nurturing instead, it is toxic and destructive. He takes advantage of her naivety and exploits it for his own control. Maxim is distant towards the narrator and only shows love when it benefits him. During